Egypt Must Release Sinai Activist
 
Alert Issued: December 24, 2008

December 26 marks one year since human rights activist Mosaad Suleiman Hassan was arrested and detained.

Hassan, better known by his pen-name Mosaad Abu Fajr, is an activist and novelist from North Sinai, who has also used his blog Wedna Ne`ish (We Want To Live) to raise issues faced by Egypt's Bedouin community. Abu Fajr was arrested following his participation in a number of demonstrations and sit-ins by members of the Bedouin community in and around Rafah City.

Although there have been three court orders for his release, State Security has used powers granted under Egypt's Emergency Law to keep him behind bars. They have repeatedly renewed detention orders to hold Abu Fajr in Borg el-Arab prison. Recent reports indicate that Abu Fajr's health has deteriorated after a 20-day hunger strike to protest his confinement.

Abu Fajr is not alone. Fellow Sinai-based activist, Yahya Hossein Suleiman (a.k.a. Yahya Abu Nasira) has also been detained since January 1, 2008. Abu Fajr's own brother Ahmad Suleiman Hassan is in detention as well.

Urge the Egyptian Ministry of Interior to comply with court orders to release Abu Fajr, as well as others detained under the Emergency Law.

Tell Me More

Mosaad Suleiman Hassan, better known by his pen-name Mosaad Abu Fajr, 41, is an employee of the Suez Canal Company, and also an activist and writer from North Sinai who has written about problems faced by the Bedouin community in the Sinai on his blog Wedna Ne`ish (We Want To Live).

The Bedouin community in Sinai has long complained of being marginalized politically, economically, and culturally by the central government of Egypt. Their grievances include a lower standard of services and infrastructure compared to other parts of Egypt, difficulties in land ownership, and heavy-handed security measures, among others.

Wedna Ne`ish is not only the name of Abu Fajr's blog, but also refers to a movement founded by him and other Bedouin activists in early 2007. One of the movement's first public activities was a demonstration held on July 30, 2007, in the city of Rafah at Massoura Square, during which activists made several demands, ranging from the revocation of trumped up charges to the granting of fishing permits in the Mediterranean. Authorities responded by breaking up the demonstration violently.

On November 30, 2007, further protests took place in the cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayd. Demonstrators called for the release of prisoners and an end to excessive force used against Sinai residents, among other issues.

Following the July 30 and November 30 demonstrations, a number of charges were lodged against Abu Fajr and fellow activist Yahya Abu Nasira, such as participation in a gathering of more than five persons, endangering public order, and preventing public officers from performing their duties.

Abu Fajr was taken into custody on December 26, 2007, reportedly to prevent him from taking part in yet another sit-in by members of the Bedouin community.

Although Abu Fajr's arrest and detention are clearly connected to his political activism and participation in demonstrations, his prominence outside the Sinai is in large part due to his blog's coverage of the marginalization and repression of the Sinai's Bedouin community. This is not the first time blogs have unsettled the authorities and attracted repression. The Egyptian authorities have detained a number of bloggers who managed to intersect with, and become a mobilizing force for, much broader opposition movements by tapping into issues about which there exists a groundswell of concern.

Since Abu Fajr's detention, three different courts in el-Arish and Isma'iliya reviewing the charges against him have ordered that all charges against him be dropped and he be released.

However, relying on the Emergency Law (which first passed in 1958 and has been in effect in Egypt continuously since 1981), State Security ('Amn al-Dawla) has continued to hold Abu Fajr in custody.

Sample letter

His Excellency President Husni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Ras Al–Teen Presidential Palace
Cairo, Egypt

Your Excellency,

I write to express my deep concern about Sinai activists Mosaad Abu Fajr, detained since December 26, 2007, Yahya Abu Nasira, detained since January 1, 2008, and Ahmed Suleiman Hassan (the brother of Abu Fajr).

Abu Fajr has been ordered released by three courts, and yet continues to be detained a year later. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the deteriorating state of Abu Fajr's health following a 20-day hunger strike to protest his confinement.
The continued detention of these three individuals violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects individuals from arbitrary detention. Egypt became a party to the ICCPR in 1982, and is bound by it. Egyptian State Security has used the Emergency Law to justify the continued detention of these three men. In fact, the authorities have relied excessively on the Emergency Law during the uninterrupted state of emergency since 1981, opening the door to clear abuses of power.

I urge that the Egyptian government adhere to its obligations under international law and release Mosaad Abu Fajr, Yahya Abu Nasira and Ahmed Suleiman Hassan.

C.C.

Ambassador Mr. Nabil Fahmy
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Court, NW
Washington, DC 20008